Page not responding and general internet connectivity issues

Fellow loungers,

Since upgrading my PC to a Windows 7 system I've been having annoying browsing issues. Things got so bad that I left Firefox for IE 9, the pre-installed version on my PC but the problem is present in both browsers, so I'm wondering if there's something else going on elsewhere.

Here's the problem: when browsing with IE, I get rather regularly freezes and, sometimes, the little pop-up at the bottom of the page informing me that the page is not responding (no kidding).

This weekend, I thought I'd go back to Firefox and see if the problem was tied to an older version of Firefox and all the updates that they've been putting out recently. To my great annoyance, the freezing problems in Firefox were even greater than in IE and I'm now back on IE.

I know I've not been very specific but this rather regular freezing or non-response problem has only appeared after changing and upgrading PC's (I was on an old XP machine for years). Is there something going on elsewhere in Windows 7 that I'm not catching? I'm running the Microsoft firewall and MS Security essentiels. I have almost no add-ons installed (only Lastpass). Why has browsing become so annoying?

I'm not entirely sure about the connectivity issues you are experiencing, but the "freezing" may be related to a setting within the tools section of the browser that alows for software (CPU) vs accelerated graphics (GPU) rendering. You might want to toggle these settings to see if there is any diferences in the freezing up aspect of what you are experiencing, at least in IE 9.

Look in tool, internet options, advanced tab, located at the very top: "Accelerated Graphics".

Then again all this could be related to a networking issue you are having with the operating system itself.
Do you have any netwoked computers or typically non standard networking set ups?

Try another browser, like Chrome, and see if the issues persist. If they do, it is more than likely an os or networking issue.

Thanks, CLiNT. I'll have a look at that. I have a super basic home network set up with another PC in the house so I'd be surprised about some networking issues. I must say that I find the endless freezing with Firefox to be immensely frustrating. I'll keep you up date on what happens.

I am sad to say that I am not able to toggle the Accelerated Graphics settings - it is greyed out with the setting checked. Any advice please as I have IE go into "Not Responding" mode quite often.
Thanks, Brian

I am sad to say that I am not able to toggle the Accelerated Graphics settings - it is greyed out with the setting checked. Any advice please as I have IE go into "Not Responding" mode quite often.
Thanks, Brian

If this option is selected, Internet Explorer 9 is running in Software Rendering mode.

If the option is greyed out, your current video card or video driver does not support GPU hardware acceleration.